Per our instructions and definitions:
(A)-610mm(24.0157”)=Nominal Official Scale Length
(B)-700mm(27.5591”)=Minimum Full-Gauge Winding Length
(C)-725mm(28.5433”)=Maximun Full-Gauge Winding Length
Note: The body thickness between the string ball-ends and the strap button is 40mm(1.5748”). I’m providing this dimension in case it’s practical to utilize a thru-body design like the Fender Mustang.
All right, here goes little.
First of all, I'm surprised at the second measurement, compared to the first.
If the, uhm, ball-to-nut distance is 27.5" and the scale length is 24", this means as many as 3.5 inches of distance accounted for by backward saddle adjustment and by the bridge having been positioned quite a ways backward in the first place. This makes sense to an extent (steel-core strings on a very short scale need a lot of compensation), but the figure is very significant.
To the point that, among the suggestions I made only a handful of days ago to a fellow TBer in a similar situation (a sub-short scale electric bass, and what strings it can accept),
https://www.talkbass.com/threads/68cm-scale-length-strings.1635504/#post-28088229
and that I reproduce below, *not* all will be applicable to your own - some will be too short - even though that other basslet has a *longer* scale length, at about 25.5".
“
first off,
you would not gain much from drilling for string-thru-body.
[Basically, to my knowledge at least, only the two options I discuss here (a Pyramid Gold flatwound set for children's double basses; and the lowest four strings from an extended-range electric guitar set, the Ernie Ball 2628 9-String Slinky)
https://www.talkbass.com/posts/27775133/
could be added to the small list of suitable ones for your basslet.]
Things would change if, in addition to string-thru canals, you installed a ball-end anchoring point for at least the E string at the back of the bass, either a recessed one by routing a shallow pool (like a Strat vibrato spring compartment, but shallower) or, well, not; alternatively, if you concocted an external path for the strings, around the body edge. Doing so, and placing said anchor at the appropriate position so as to total an extra 5" (no more than 5", but not much less either) of post-bridge string afterlength, would allow you to use any conventional short-scale set (except for Thomastik-Infeld shortie sets, which are longer than most). Or I guess you could place the anchor even further toward the neck plate, so as to get 9" extra from the back of the bridge, and be able to install normal, long-scale strings.
Now for what you could already install on your bass as-is.
ROUNDWOUNDS
- You could indeed
shorten the B, E, A and D strings from a long-scale 5-string set
(tips on how to do it either at the headstock end or toward the ball end can be found in this thread
https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diy-making-short-scale-strings-out-of-long-scale-strings.1549282/);
- alternatively, or in the meantime, you can order the Fernandes BSZ-2000 set (gauges 65-80-105-125)
FERNANDES BSZ-2000 Bass strings for PIE-ZO | eBay
made for the earlier-version Pie-Zo Bass (known outside Japan as the Nomad Bass), which was a sub-short scale bass (originally 24" plus string-through-body; later models are 30", but possibly some are 25.5");
- or order a
custom-gauge/length set from either
Newtone Strings in the UK (through their
custom bass string configurator) or
Pyramid Strings in Germany (either by using the
ad-hoc online form on their website, or contacting them (auf Englisch is fine)
via email).
PRESSUREWOUNDS, GROUNDWOUNDS, BRIGHT-SOUNDING FLATWOUNDS, TAPEWOUNDS
There's nothing of the sort available on the market off the shelf, but
- you could order a
custom-length set of
Pyramid black nylon tapes: as said above, they do custom work. They might be more amenable to making a supershort version of their 4-string set; if you're more interested in getting it in the BEAD gauges (135-112-95-75) from their 5-string set (
648/5), you may have to do some gentle coaxing;
- otherwise, see above for tips on
shortening procedures (which may prove to be trickier with tapes and flats);
DARK-SOUNDING FLATWOUNDS
- Your bass is an ideal candidate for the
Gold Tone / La Bella MBLS set (49-69-89-109)
MBLS MicroBass LaBella Flat Wound Strings
(a.k.a. MBSLS on the eBay). They are reportedly 28" long, from ball-end to start of tuner-end silk
- another option is the Kala KA-BASS-4FW (a.k.a. Galli UXB910C; gauges 60-80-10-130), specifically the 23" scale version (there is a shorter, 20.5" scale one):
https://www.talkbass.com/threads/68cm-scale-length-strings.1635504/#post-28088229
The latter suggestion is somewhat counterintuitive: they're nylon-core, chrome-steel flatwounds.
However, at least two TB posters have reported them working on mag-pickupped minibasses - with results ranging from meh to satisfactory, by virtue of them having enough magnetically-active mass in their wrap to be 'legible' by the pickups, even though their core isn't.
”
^^^^^^^^^^^^
As you can see, two of the options (Fernandes and Galli/Kala) I've reformatted in a smaller size, because they would (probably) not clear the nut on your bass if it really is 27.5" from ball end to nut.
